``I will continue as Chief Minister here and have no plans to join the Union Cabinet,'' he said on his arrival from Chennai here this morning.

Asked if the Congress wanted him to be at the Centre in view of his long Parliamentary experience, Gamang said ``That phase is over. I think such a situation will not arise.''

Gamang said his presence in the Lok Sabha to vote during the confidence vote was neither unethical nor unconstitutional.

The allegation levelled by the Opposition parties against his action was politically motivated, he said.

Questioned if he would go to Delhi again to cast his vote when the new non-BJP Government sought a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Minister said it might not be necessary. ``In any case, I will be guided by the directive of the party,'' hesaid.

Citing the example of National Conference member Saifuddin Soz who had been expelled from the party for life for going against the party whip and voting against the Vajpayee Government, Gamang said he would have met the same fate if he had not voted against the confidence motion.

``The BJP should blame Saifuddin Soz, a member of its ally, and not me for its defeat on the floor of the House'', he said adding the Government fell because of its inherent contradictions.

``I am still continuing as a member of the Lower House and have the division number 479. I am drawing my salary and other allowances from the Lok Sabha and not the State Assembly,'' he said adding that he had not been voting in the Assembly.

``I even travelled to Delhi from Bhubaneswar and from there to Chennai and back by using the air travel facilities provided by the Lok Sabha and not the State Government,'' he clarified.

Asked about the adverse reaction of senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister, Nandini Satpathy whodisapproved his voting in Lok Sabha, Gamang said she would have been justified if she had made the comment before the enactment of the Anti-Defection Law.

After the enactment of the Anti-Defection Law, it is not the individual's conscience which guides a member as far as voting on the floor of the House is concerned. The three-line whip issued by the party is all that matters, he said.

Gamang said when he voted in the Lok Sabha he never knew that the Government would be defeated by a lone vote. ``My action was never controversial. But it was a positive one,'' he said.

Replying to questions, Gamang said if he remembered correctly, Congress leader Vijay Bhaskar Reddy, while he was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, had once voted in the Lok Sabha on a Bill in a similar situation. ``But I have to check up the matter,'' Gamang, who has been a member of the Lok Sabha for the last 27 years without a break said.

The Chief Minister suggested that Article 83 (2) and other relevant Articles of the Constitutionshould be amended to ensure that the life of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies were not curtailed before expiry of their five-year term.

There should be elections only once in five years for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies and the Council of Ministers should be debarred from recommending dissolution of the House before expiry of its five-year term, he said.